Chapter 56 (1/2)

Episode 56

At a parking lot just beyond the blocking line, a medical tent had been hastily erected. It was a state-of-the-art tent specially provided for Tenz hunters during operations.

However, this tent had been built three hours after the operation ended. It had been assembled for just one person, a foreigner who signed a free-agent contract with the global company.

“Woo!” a man loudly exhaled as he walked out of the tent.

He was Seo Hwa-yoon, the current general manager of the Tenze Medical Support and Research Department.

Seo Hwa-yoon was sweating heavily. He looked exhausted.

“Uncle,” a young woman called him. He turned, and a smile began to form on his lips.

“Hey! It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a pretty face!” he said cheerfully.

Seoyu’s smile brightened as she approached him.

“How is he?” she asked.

“He’s asleep now, but he was awake throughout the diagnosis and initial assessments.”

Both the uncle and the niece sighed. Like Seo Hwa-yoon, Seoyu was also exhausted.

A few hours ago, she was called into the center of the operations.

What was waiting for her was a scene she did not expect.

A giant monster corpse surrounded by several hunters.

And in the middle of it all was Oh Yoo-seong, repeating a single phrase over and over.

‘Don’t touch it.’

‘Don’t touch it.’

Seoyu rushed through the crowd, pushing through the veteran hunters. As soon as Yoo-seong saw her, he began to repeat a different phrase:

‘Article 5-2.’

In the contract he had signed with Tenz, Article 5-2 stated that if he suffered an injury that required treatment by a professional medical staff, it would be provided to him on demand.

Regardless of the situation, Tenz was contractually obligated to fulfill it.

Seoyu had been placed in a tough situation. They were in Shanghai, a place without a Tenz branch.

On top of that, Yoo-seong was bleeding heavily through his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

It was obvious to anyone that he needed medical attention right away.

Seoyu tried to convince Yoo-seong to visit a nearby hospital, but he refused.

Instead, he kept repeating the phrase:

‘Article 5-2.’

‘Article 5-2.’

There was no concession.

In the end, Seoyu gave up and dialed her uncle in front of Yoo-seong. Then, Yoo-seong insisted to personally watch over the Qiongqi’s disposal with her.

He was in a state where he was depleted both physically and mentally, but he held on until the end.

Seo Hwa-yoon noticed his niece looking towards the tent.

“Don’t worry. He can’t hear us,” he said.

“Yes?”

Seo Hwa-yoon smiled bitterly.

“Because he can’t hear any sound. The nerves in his ears were completely damaged.”

Seoyu’s eyes widened in shock.

“Of course,” his uncle continued, “his body has CE, and he would be able to recover after a while.”

Seo Hwa-yoon looked away as he wondered aloud.

“But the fact that he was able to stand still for a few hours… a person’s sense of balance depends on their ears.”

The Qiongqi’s scream. It was an unthinkable feat for a human to withstand a 12-star monster’s main attack.

As Yoo-seong hung onto its back for almost twenty minutes, his eardrums had been sacrificed.

Seoyu felt goosebumps rise on her arms.

“That person… he’s a monster,” she said.

“He’s a hero. How could someone catch one of the Four Perils alone?”

“It’s not impossible! Even if we don’t go as far as the Master, any of the ten Ship Zones could…”

Seoyu stopped herself as she realized what she was saying.

The Ship Zone. The top hunters across all of China.

She was comparing Oh Yoo-seong to the country’s pride.

“It could be considered as the best solo achievement since the Cheongpung Swordsman,” Seo Hwa-yoon remarked.

“Well. There’s a very slim chance for a Ship Zone to face a Peril on a one-on-one basis, but I’m sure…”

Seo Hwa-yoon stared at his niece.

He wasn’t a hunter, so he could observe the situation objectively. However, Seoyu must feel the same as all other hunters who were in Shanghai, perhaps, even those in other parts of the country.

A foreigner. From the barren land of the Korean peninsula nonetheless.

For someone like Yoo-seong to catch a specie of the Four Perils alone, it was a fact that was too difficult for them to accept.

Their great pride in the Chinese industry refused to concede that someone overseas may have a stronger Ki and Tech than them.

The fact that Tenz had signed a free agent from Korea was a topic of great controversy, even among the executives of Tenz themselves. Jin Wei-baek simply laughed at his subordinates when they tried to ask him for his reason.

“Because,” the old man said, “I want to drop a bomb.”

Seo Hwa-yoon, who was at that meeting, tilted his head. He did not understand.

However, now… the mystery was solved. The bomb had gone off in Shanghai.

“I heard that Oh Yoo-seong is considered a bomb in the Korean hunting scene,” he told Seoyu.

“A bomb?”

“A generational talent, one who could bring about change in the entire industry. It is said that many young hunters were inspired by him and started to work harder.”

Seoyu remained silent.

‘Perhaps,’ her uncle wondered, ‘she was also affected by the explosion?’

Seoyu trembled. She hated to admit it, but Yoo-seong’s achievements could not be ignored. Even by the high Chinese standards, his act was worthy of praise.

“Since this has come to pass, why do you think the Master attached you as his secretary?” Seo Hwa-yoon asked her.

She couldn’t respond. She knew where the conversation was leading to.

“Isn’t that a key position? Surely, there must be others who have more experience…”

Jin Wei-baek was known for his sound decisions. He would hardly assign someone who was lacking in experience and achievements. Both uncle and niece were thinking about the same thing.